From 13 to 17 March 2023, the first training for pig carcass classification was held in Serbia within the EU-funded Twinning Project “Support the establishment of a carcass classification system in line with the EU Common Agricultural Policy”.
The classification of pig carcasses is made by automatic, semiautomatic or manual devices. The purpose is to assess the percentage of lean meat and fat of the meat. It allows to know the quality of the meat and to establish the price. It will be the basis for the market between pig suppliers and abattoirs, with fairer and more transparent transactions in this important point within the supply chain.
Classifiers and inspectors must have adequate education and pass proper training.
The training was carried out by two experts from Latvia with extensive experience in the matter, and was aimed at public administration staff of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, and staff of the Animal Production Department of the Novi Sad Faculty of Agriculture.
The whole training was divided into two sections. In the first section the lectures took place explaining general issues of pig classification system: EU regulations, methods of the classification system, requirements of identification and marking. It was followed by sharing Latvian experience in reporting of market prices for carcasses and payment system in the EU price reporting system.
The second section was the practical part that took place in abattoir, where the participants could make pig carcass presentation and classification exercise and discuss the results with the experts.
Nine people attended to the whole course and in future, the project has planned to perform more trainings for administration staff and other stakeholders.
The Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Serbia, as a contractual body, is responsible for financing, contracting, making payments and supervising the implementation of this project, through the Department for Contracting and Financing European Union Funded Programs.